The Watchman On The Wall

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Verse 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Friday, December 5, 2014

Obama Is Considering Sanctions Against Israel

The Obama administration is refusing to discuss reports that emerged
early Thursday claiming that the White House is considering imposing sanctions
on Israel for continuing construction on Jewish homes in Jerusalem.

State Department
spokeswoman Marie Harf dodged several questions on Thursday when confronted
with reports that the administration had held secret internal meetings to
discuss taking action against Israel for its ongoing building in East Jerusalem.

The classified
meetings were reportedly held several weeks ago and included officials from
both the State Department and White House.

The possibility of
sanctioning Israel for its ongoing construction sends a signal that the Obama
administration is willing to go further in its denunciations of Israel then any
previous White House.

At the same time,
the White House is vigorously pushing Congress against passing new sanctions on
Iran.

When asked to
address the reports Thursday afternoon, Harf declined to take a stance.

“I’m obviously not
going to comment one way or another on reported internal deliberations,” she
said. “We’ve made clear our position on settlement activity publicly and that
hasn’t changed.”

When pressed to
address whether the White House has reached a point at which it believes its
harsh rhetoric against Israel is not enough, Harf again demurred, stating that
she would not “address hypotheticals.”

A White House
National Security Council (NSC) official also would not comment.

News of the
supposed meeting leaked to the press though Israeli officials who were
apparently apprised of the discussion.

Senior Israeli
officials said White House officials held a classified discussion
a few weeks ago about the possibility of taking active measures against the
settlements.

The discussion
about levying sanctions on Israel reportedly began after Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu’s October meeting at the White House and the subsequent
battle between Washington and Jerusalem over settlement construction.

The thought of the
White House leveling sanctions on Israel as it works to lessen those already
imposed on Iran prompted consternation on Capitol Hill and throughout the
pro-Israel world.

One senior
congressional aide who works on the issue of Israel expressed shock that a
White House could even discuss such action.

“If these reports
are true, this would mark a new era of unprecedented hostility from the White
House against our strongest ally in the Middle East,” the source said. “It’s
impossible not to notice the irony of the administration mulling sanctions on
Israel while threatening to veto new sanctions against Iran.”

The aide added:
“The president should be forewarned that taking such action against Israel
would yield tremendous pushback from Congress.”

Those in the
pro-Israel world expressed a similar view when reached for comment.

“Even this administration,
which has been historically hostile to our Israeli allies, even as they worked
overtime to bomb the enemies of Iranian proxies across the Middle East, could
not possibly be so aggressively committed to undermining our alliances as to
levy sanctions against Israel at the same time they’re lifting them on Iran,”
said one senior official with a pro-Israel organization who agreed to speak
only on background.

Others took a more
critical view.

“The Obama
administration is against sanctions on Iran, but for them on Israel,” said Noah
Pollak, executive director of the pro-Israel organization Emergency Committee
for Israel. Watch the video below.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9EOiaanGVY